i'm not just a preacher

i’m a PREACHER.

i make my livelihood by what i SAY.

in seminary i had to take courses to make me a better COMMUNICATOR.

i could not tell you how many books i have read regarding preaching, effective communication, and sermonizing. in fact, I have spent the last TWELVE YEARS trying to become a better conversationalist when it comes to the biblical text.

And guess what…

i have finally realized that MY PREACHING IS USELESS, unless people see that I am willing to live what I preach. preaching is a piece of cake, compared to actually carrying out the words spoken from my own lips.

When I die, I DO NOT WANT TO BE KNOWN AS A GREAT PREACHER (so when my mom tells you otherwise, please correct her).  I don’t want people sitting around recalling a sermon or two they remembered from the thousands of sermons i’ve preached during my lifetime. I fear that people will talk about all the things i’ve said, but fail to mention anything else about my life.

when i die, I WANT TO BE KNOWN AS A PERSON WHO LIVED WHAT HE PREACHED. i want people to know that my words have flesh and bones. my desire is that people would recognize that my sermons change me, every week they change me, from the inside out. i genuinely want to practice what i preach.

preachers often become frustrated because people are unwilling to do what they’re told. how many times have you heard a preacher talk about how their church people won’t listen to them? too many to count.

PEOPLE ARE VISUAL LEARNERS. people don’t want to HEAR what you preach, they want to SEE what you preach.

that’s why i believe it is imperative to live what i preach. i understand that my preaching is meaningless, unless people see me putting hands and feet to those sermons.   

"dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth"
first john 3:18

grace & peace, marc